Danish companies fail to document their work on human rights
20 of the biggest Danish companies are currently not demonstrating full alignment with the responsibility to respect human rights, as defined by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
A new study from the Danish Institute of Human Rights shows that all the assessed companies received an overall result of 40 percent when documenting their compliance with the UN guiding principles.
On average, companies scored just three out of 12 points on their documentation of necessary due diligence on human rights. The study also shows that only eight companies commit to provide access to remedy in case of critical impacts derived from company activities.
It is highly problematic that some of the largest companies in Denmark aren’t able to document compliance with the UN guiding principles. These companies are obliged by The Danish Financial Statements Act to account for their work on respecting human rights, and yet they are lagging in documentation. Unfortunately, companies are all too often involved in negative impact on human rights, and that is precisely why it is necessary for them to be able to show the outside world what systems they have in place.
The study only measures Danish companies' current and publicly available documentation of alignment with the UN guiding principles on Business and Human Rights.
The study uses the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark’s Core Indicator Assessment methodology in relation to the UN guiding principles, which includes 13 indicators.
The companies score between zero and two points across the 13 core indicators. A score of one point means that a company meets the most basic criteria for that specific indicator.
This list of core indicators is designed to create a brief overview of the companies' approach to human rights and their ability to demonstrate compliance with the standards stated in the UN guiding principles.
The 13 indicators cover three thematic areas:
1. Governance and Policy Commitments (four indicators)
2. Embedding Respect and Human Rights Due Diligence (six indicators)
3. Remedies and Grievance Mechanisms (three indicators)
Denmark needs legislation
Denmark has not yet legislated in this area but adopted a national action plan in 2014. In 2019, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recommended that Denmark adopt a new action plan.
The Committee also recommended that Denmark introduce laws and other regulations that oblige companies to exercise due diligence on human rights in their activities and business relations.
The Committee clarified that regulations should hold companies legally liable for violating economic, social and cultural rights and require them to allow interested parties to seek redress. Denmark has not yet responded to the committee's comment.
“We are approaching the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, but our study helps illustrate that we aren’t moving fast enough to ensure that Danish companies have systems in place that ensure that companies respect human rights and document it as well. Therefore, it is relevant to look at Danish legislation. Legislation on human rights due diligence already exists in France and is underway in several neighbouring countries. The European Commission will also make proposals for regulating the area next year,” says Elin Wrzoncki.
The Danish institute for Human Rights recommends that companies improve their human rights due diligence practices and their publicly available information thereon. The Institute further recommends that the Danish State meets its duty to protect human rights in alignment with the expectations laid out in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
The UN guiding principles defines what States and companies should do to avoid and handle adverse impacts from companies on human rights, e.g. for workers, locals or consumers.
The UN Guiding Principles contain three pillars: protect, respect and remedy. Each defines concrete, actionable steps for governments and companies to meet their respective duties and responsibilities to prevent human rights abuses in company operations and provide remedies if such abuses take place.
The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human rights was unanimously adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in 2011.